THE -.OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND SUNDAY MORNING, JULY - 23, S907
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j JS GREATNESS contagious?
after day in the presence of a prominent
person, to so imbibe his qualities that one may
duplicate the feats that made him greatf.
: Can there be some subtle magnetism that,
passing from one body to another, carries xvith
, tt the power and force of mind and character
" that makes greatness t Or since there is a
taicrobe for everything now may there not
he a prominence germ which accounts for itf
. I 'Anyhow, there are, at the present time,
teveral striking instances in America of men
tvho, starting in life as private secretaries,
have been enabled soon to pass on to positions
scarcely inferior to those of their preceptors.
. Such has been the story of George B.
'Cortelyou, who, from being the secretary to
'. two Presidents, became secretary of commerce
, and labor, then postmaster general and then
, "secretary of the treasury; of William Loeb,
' 7r., who . from the same position will, it is -
Iderstood, become president of the street raiU
tvay company in Washington; of Robert B.
' Urmstrong, who, from being private secretary
to Leslie M. Shaw, became an assistant secre
tary of the treasury, and afterward president
cf one of New York's large financial institu
tions; of Albert F. Dawson, of Iowa; J.
H amp ton Moore, of Pennsylvania; Fred
Xrick Landis, of Indiana, and others, who
graduated from the desk of a private secretary
to seats in Congress.
Especially prone to greatness have been
tnen who have fallen under the influence of
President Roosevelt; they say that there is
something so enthusing about him that one
teeing him work can no longer be mediocre.
In no other field than politics is the ten
dency toward the greatness disease from in
Ovulation nearly so perceptible.
THINK of the Insight Into things that tend toward
ucceas In life that la enjoyed by the man who
sits In the offices of the President of the United
States (lay after day, acting as his secretary!
,, Few people realize the Importance of his position.. He
la-not a mere letter writer in fact, he writes no letters
r stt all, except those of an especially personal nature.
To be sure, many a prominent private secretary, like
Cortelyou, started as an expert stenographer; but once
the chair of the President's secretary Is reached It la
eldorn that the shorthand note must be resorted to.
But there he sits, studying every move of the man
hj is. charged with directing the course of the ship of
tate. If the President possess any peculiar personal
traits that account for his popularity, for his hold on the
masses, his secretary knows what (hey are.
He knows better than the President himself. For the
President has his hands full talkins to his visitors and
Berfoimlng the functions of liis otttc-i- he cannot observe
le eflpct of his actions on them.
Sitting in the background, however, the secretary can
jnako such observations. He can see both parties can
the ,g0Jho wortl!S and actions of the President affect
Moreover, he unconsciously absorbs some of those
Bame attributes. This doesn't mean that he becomes an
pish imitator; tor. although he imbibes the qualities of
KncU S8' malfests them according to his own in.
.fD lnst"ce while it cannot be doubted that Presi
dent Roosevelt a Influence has had v. rv much o do with
Secretary eortelyeu's rise, no one hi charged that there
U any marked similarity in the methods of the two men
A
ACQUIRES STRENUOSITY
What
cortelyou aid absorb was
nerav of Roosevelt, th in.. ... ""Z,"'Z. "powering
the
pels tim to work with, Hocklike n-gulirti, Always Tc
- "'' ss - ct urc tuna ni rrnmi ta i .-.
K nnlltv whloh nnlv ih. " r . . "ul.e ln word.
"-H n" dR.crth- wora- "Birenuous
an describe.
arsd7Tf ca'nnoj r,3 ,0
though they may be insignificant when securing t 1
tions..cTbey niHJft grow and expand; must never cease to
rH is the private secretary who must stand between
the great man and the world outside, who must
after, the multiplicity of small details, so that "hi, Lm.,
tnay have hl energies free for the greater issues .ni
questions." , .ana
And this trfcperience with details cannot but make him
strong, capable.' , -His mind Becomes methodical- ha i.
, able to do much wOrk in brief time "
Ho secures the benefit of Initiative, for It Is abso
lutely incumbent -upon blnj to decide quickly upon fairly
important matters, and in such, a way that there will be
bo resultant trouble, . ; i
Orxe in a while a secretary fails under this test and
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A&f become a
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drops out, but if he succeeds, It Is but natural for him to :
ask:
"If I can decide important questions for some on
else,-why not for myself?" And so he lets his ambition
out, secures a bigger position and holds It with credit.
As a matter of fact, his own secretary is often closer
to a President than any member of his Cabinet. This Is'
necessary from the fact that, while every Cabinet officer
5 x r
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'Millions of 'ffoney tinted On Ganadiau Farms
"W
ELL," said tho farmer, "I get up at
4 o clock m tho morrunpr, and work
till sundown ; all I earn is my keep."
tlV,... . 1 kl.. 'l .tna,!
the summer boarder.
"Yes. My boy, studying at college, calls me
a pessimist."
"Well," concluded the summer boarder, "all
I can say is, any man who gets up at 4 o clock
WOULD the American farmer be happy sincerely
happy, from his wide straw hat to his boots
If he Wfre so rich that he couUl lend all kinds
of moaey; if he could run public opinion just
to suit himself?
'ihere are trust companies and editors and con
gressmen who-Wlll contend that the farmer would be
the same old pessimist who goes on now raising sons
to take their Jobs as trust officers, editors and con
gressmen, and himself dies of too much ease at the ripe
age of 80 or 90 years.
Maybe so. But up Canada, that is Just what the
farmers are doing. They are so rich that, like trust
magnates, they are able and quite willing to make
themselves a good deal richer.
i'tiere are about three-quarters of a billion dollars.
In real cash, deposited In the Canadian banks, and
the firmer own the largest percentage of it. And
that doesn't count the money they have in the loan
and trust companies. ' -
They used to indulge in a. good many mortgages.
A farmer. In earlier days,' couldn't be admitted Into
refined society unless he could show a mortgage big
enough to swallow house, barru farm and chicken coop.
Now, they are not only regarding mortgages as
thin? handy to have In the nonce, but they hire agents
to hunt for them, with the highest Interest rate and
the most Infallible foreclosure clauses which can be
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urn-
has the duties of his own particular department to look
after, the President must hare supervision over all, and
his secretary Is relied upon to handle details.
Should your President be a gruff, forbidding fellow,
the secretary would not be likely to get along well with
him or after leaving him, for the reason that lack of
encouragement or personal magnetism or of an example
In Industry robs him of ambition and confidence In him
self. Indeed, It Is no secret among men In high places that
the great man almost always comes to be guided In his
opinion about individuals by a person In whose discern
ment and Judgment he has absolute confidence, and so it
is that the private secretary often becomes a great power
and Influence In himself.
Of all the private secretaries or, more simply. Just
secretaries, for the "private" is being largely dropped .In
Washington who have made names for themselves by
their own brains and acumen and perseverance after
leaving their positions, the name of George B. Cortelyou
naturally looms large.
Not wholly pyrotechnic, yet his career suggests the
skyrocket Originally a department clerk In Washington,
he was taken over by President Cleveland and added to
the White House staff. ",7ben President McKlnley had
a vacancy to, supply as his private secretary, he placed
the erstwhile stenographer in the post.
But It was Mr. Roosevelt who pulled him out, devel
oped his superior traits. Almost meteoric was his rise
to the post of secretary of commerce and labor, then to
postmaster general and Anally to the secretaryship of
the treasury.
And add to thU that he was chairman of the Repub
lican national committee during the last presidential cam
paign, and you have some idea of what a secretary may
aspire to.
True, some men of narrower minds would have kept
ought to be a pessimist, if he isn't."
This touching parable, from he Apocryphal
Anecdotes of Near-Poor Persons, may explain the
chronic attitude toward himself of the American
farmer, whose eons usually leave him and whose
hired help frequently fails him; who fighte drouth
today and flood tomorrow; who is either imploring
freight cars to come to him or chasing them as
secured. That Is because the Canadian farmer la be
coming the mortgagor instead of the mortgagee.
He is also the Canadian money lender. The manu
facturers and other business men. who have to borrow
capital are borrowing it of the farmer's bank deposits,
for the current loans and discounts are Increasing in
the xame ratio as the deposits ln the banks.
People have a general Idea that Canadians are
busy chiefly with axes, chopping down trees and mak
ing one forest thank fortune it can grow where, twenty
grew before, .' , .
But the farmer there has the lumberman beaten to
a wood pulp, for he exports, in a year $54,000,000
worth of farm products, against only $33,000,000 worth
of lumber. '
HJ.7 butter and cheese alone bring him as muoh as
does all the lumberman's timber.
So popular has the Canadian farmer become with
his neighbors, that more than 50,000 of those neighbors
moved from the United States last year over into Manl- -toba
alone. They wanted to be nearer to the money.
And, Just In Manitoba, the farmers, during that one
year, gathered in 20, 006,000 bushels of barley, and
85,000,000 bushels of oats, and 90,000,000 bushels of
wheal. .
The Canadian farmer, having discovered himself
as the gilt-edged balance of power, has turned In as a
tariff reformer. He has reduced the Import duties on
all his farming Implements, which is very profitable
Cortelyou in his original post of secretary, simply be
cause they could not ceoure another to fill his place so
well; but Roosevelt does not believe In hampering the
ambitions or limiting the scope of usefulness of a young
man.
While dwelling on Mr. Cortelyou. there Is a singular
example which shows that a secretary to a secretary
may himself Imbibe the taste for greatness.
This example Is Weaver H. O. Weaver. Ever heard
of him? Well, It's safe to wager a Kohlnoor against a
pebble that you will hear a great deal about him before
very long.
When Secretary Cortelyou went from the Poetoffloe
Department ,4o the treasury In March last. Weaver went
along as his secretary. He had been his secretary since
he bad himself been taken from such a post to be given
charge of a department
Like Cortelyou, Weaver Is an expert stenographer.
This was instrumental in gaining notice for him during
his earlier clerkship days, but is no longer of great use
to him.
Only IS years old, this toll, youthful-looking, eye
glassed man Is always smiling, Just as though he were
not working day and night and accomplishing the work
f two men.
The thing that most distinguished Weaver and en
deared him to Cortelyou was the same trait that had
distinguished Cortelyou himself when he was a private
secretary. It was his thorough knowledge, his level
head, his clear Judgment
For, almost from the day he went Into the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor ha knew all the Ins and
outs of that department; later, the ramifications of the
big Postofflce Department didn't even Induce him to leave
off smiling for even a minute, and now there Is no ques
tion about the great strongbox of the government which
he cannot answer with a smile always that smile!
Already he exerts strong influence in Washington
high official life, and he la bound. It is generally be
lieved, to go higher. ,
But when it cornea to secretaries, Loeb's the goods!
Poor Loebl Despite all the exasperating things said
about him by the papers and pubMo generally, It cannot
be denied that he exerts a greater influence than any
other secretary In the United States.
HIGH QUALITIES REQUIRED
No diplomat in Washington has mors important calls
on his diplomacy than Loeb; no financier must be more
shrewd; no detective must be more watchful, more in
genious at detection. Courage, alertness. Judgment and
patience are among his more Important attributes. He
has them all, hence his prestige and power.
Not only must he receive suggestions and eidvice from
Mr. Roosevelt; he must give them, too. From I o'clock
in the morning till often after S at night he Is at his desk
meeting persons who think they ought to see the Presi
dent; and, besides this, he haa Important matters of state
to attend to. It is said that no other person in the
United States reads and replies to so many letters each
day as does Mr. Loeb.
An Incident among his various nd varied duties is
the fact that Loeb is the official press agent of the Presi
dent; knows his secrets, keeps what is to be kept and
gives out what may be made public. This in Itself re
quires the characteristic that counts for greatness.
And yet his position pays him but 15000 a year. This,
perhapa. Is the reason why he is anxious to leave the
position and enter business life. It is believed in Wash
ington that about the first of next year he will become
president of the street railway company of that city.
If there la anything In the theory of contracting
they run away from him-and feels, if he isn't
struggling to pay off a mortgage, that he is work
ing his life out to takeone on.
JIare any farmers reason for happiness!
Well, many of those in the great states of the
West are doing prettywel, but for an all-around
contented man the Canadian farmer should stand
a good chance of the medaL
for him. and very profitable for American manufac
turers, but not so beneficial to the Canadian makers.
However, the farmers ln Canaida were not lying awake
nignt worrying over what will happen to the imple
ment Industry there.
Their only anxiety is as to the other details of the
tariff, which they have been too busy to revise com
pletely. They have come to the conclusion that com-,
merclal union with the United States will be greatlf
to their advantage, and but a short period is expected
to elapse before the agricultural Interests of Canada.
which have already demonstrated their supremacy In
the moulding of Dominion policies, cast their pre
ponderant innuence nauy inio me scales lor such an
arrangement. . 1
The Djminlon government takes mighty good dare
of its farmers, these days. If they don't know Mow
to no it, the government tells them,
Throughout the province of Quebec It instituted
special sessions 01 practical courses In husbandry,
covering everymmg. aown or up. to aairyin. 1
vestlgafed the pedigrees of French horses, and
yvi vvu vtiivr uurcv ivr ureeaing purposes."
- Last year it oian t think tne farmers' bogs Jnrere
so profitable as they ought to be; so it imported tetter
oreeas, ana aisiriDUiea tnem.
The Canadian farmer erets uo as itarlv as the ft
mer
to the south of htm; but. from the latest advlos
no
one who met him riding homeward from'
falsi
bank
was ace using him of being a pessimist.
CZfUSiftXXr, QhTd. .M7 CO770T-JJ
genius It must not be long before the world hears more)
of Fred Warner. Carpenter, private secretary to Secre
tary of War Tatt. An around the world with the bit
secretary has be been, and he Is quIeUy, surely rising,
, "f Becreiary wno nag risen to lmportaaicoei-
uons is j. Hampton Moore, president of the
League of Republican Clubs. He started reporting
proceedings fn the little New Jersey town where he 1W
went to rnuaaeiphia to become a newspaper reporter,
was appointed ohlef clerk to the city treasurer and then
was made secretary to the Mayor of Philadelphia.
From this position he was, elected city treasurer of
Phllaoelphla, became president of the National League
of Republican Clubs, was appointed by President Roose
velt enter 01 tne Bureau of Manufactures of the De
partment of Commeroe and Labor at Washington, whloa
, place he left to become president of a trust company of
Philadelphia. Then he was elected to Congress, where)
he is already making his mark.
In Washington a few years ago Fred Landis was act
ing as private secretary to his brother, Charles B. Lan
dis, who Is still in Congress representing the Ninth In
diana District. Fred Landis was an efficient secretary,
but aspired higher.
Indeed, he made no bones about saying that he
iiiuurii ne wouio. maxe just as good a congressman as
Charlie. So one day he announced to his brother that
he wss going back to Indiana to pry a nomination loose
somewhere, and that he would not return to Washing
ton except as a congressman.
Well, he went back and found all the nominations
pretty well riveted down, but he started with a polltioal
crowbar after the seat of General Steele And one day
the general waked up to find the primaries controlled by
Landis.
So he wa nominated and elected, at tl years of age,
which made him the youngest man In Congress. He
reprec .ted six gTe'at counties, with a population of 200,
000. comprising the Eleventh District Although defeated
In his last run or Congress, Landis hopes to get there
again.
FROM TYPEWRITER TO BENCH
Then there is Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, of
the United States District Court at Chicago, before whom
John D. Rockefeller was examined the other day. He
was private secretary to Secretary of State Walter Q.
Ores ham.
For a time he came pretty near to running the State
Department, for Secretary Oresham was ill much of the
time. Qne Instance In which he took the reins of the
government in his own hands shows the power of a pri
vate secretary.
When the news reached the United "States that the
AUlanoa, an American vessel, was overhauled by a Span
ish gunboat off Cuba on suspicion that It was carrying
' munitions of war to the Cubans, Oresham was sick and
President Cleveland was away fishing.
Acting Secretary of State Uhl sent a. telegram,
over his own name, Instructing the -United States min
ister at Madrid to demand an apology from Spain. It
wasm the copy hook on the telegrapher's table when
Landis saw it. ,
He grasped the telegram, ran to Greaham's sick
room, and Induced him to scratch out Uhl's name and
subscribe his own. Thus Oresham received credit for
the act.
Afterward, President Cleveland offered to send
Landis to Venezuela as minister, but he preferred law
and politics. He is a brother of the Landis brothers
of congressional note.
Albert Foster Dawson, a member of Congress from
Iowa, was secretary to George M. Curtis, and Senator
William B. Allison, both of Jowa, before he went into
politics.
As private secretary to Leslie M. Shaw, when he
was secretary of the treasury. Robert Burns Arm
strong, a young Iowa man. Imbibed a thirst for great
ness. So efficient was he, that he waa made assistant
secretary of the treasury, and gave up this position
to become president of a large financial Institution In
New Tork.
It Is only natural that one who has been muoh In
t n cn m h n n v nf "TTntO.. Ti," ra.n... 1 . .l
Hous of Representatives, would imbibe some of the
qualltta.i that have made htm successful.
, And it is true that L. White Busbey. secretary to
Mr. Cannon, exerts srreat influence in wuhin..
He is one of the young men of whom big things are'
Human Reference Librai
T DOWNS, Kan., about 100 mJlt west of Kansas
City, a woman at a telephone la the reference
library for teachers and pupils in the publlo
schools for many miles around.
Mrs. D. E. Allen is librarian at TVicnt anA om.
stantly called upon to furnish Information, when she re
ceives a call for assistance, she makes a note of the re
quest and hangs up the telephone receiver.
Then she searches among the 1700 volumes of her li
brary until she finds the information desired, and ln a few
minutes she transmits It over the wires, strung along
country roads, to the pupil.
It was Mrs. Allen who conceived the Idea of putting
the library and the rural telephone to such excellent use
as auxiliary to educational work beyond the confines of
her own little city. The library is well equipped with ref
erence works, and she Is able to supply an abundance of
Information, whether it be history, biography, science,
sociology or religion.
"The publlo library and the telephone are Important
factors In education." Mts. Allen told the librarians of
Kansas recently, and they all became Interested in what
she was doing.
Four years ago Mrs. Allen saw the need of a library
for the use of the young people of Downs. She started out
alone, determined to have a library. The citisens became
Interested. Thirty of them subscribed for stock at $10 a
share, and an association was organized
Mrs. Allen declined the presidency, preferring to take
up the work pf librarian, and for four years she has per
formed her duties without a dollar of pay. Under her
management, the library, starting with seventy-five vol
umes in a rented room, has gaown to a fine collection of
1700 volumes, occupying a neat little building, the gift of
Andrew Carnegie. Helen Gould's gift to the Downs
library was 500 volumes.
v The Expense of Education
' r-"RENCH authorities have been collecting statistics to
M show the expenses of various European states for-
the education of their aubjeots.
In Germany there Is one school to every 700 inhabi
tants, and on an average 100 children attend one school.
The expense amounts to 38.85 cents a head of population.
In France there is a school to every 600 Inhabitants, a
school is attended by eixty-alx children, and every
Frenchman contributes 29.5 cents to the expenditure.
In Italy, where there is a school to every 600 inhab-
iwnuv scnooi visited. Dy nfty-six children and a
pupil costs 18.75 cents. - In Spain there Is also a chool
to every 600 inhabitants, and nfty-slx school chlldreseon-
suruie tne average attendance. Every child, however
auires an annual exoendltu nt ss ,nt, , ? cmia
conditions are similar, but the cost amounts' to 27.25 cen
lor eacii cuuq . -.
.A.u!trla bas a school to every 104 pupils and every
1300 inhabitants,' at a cost cf 19.1 cents. In Russia there
4s a school to every 2300 Inhabitants, and the school ex
penditure of a Russian amounts to M cents.
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